The second day started with a series of new experiences during our morning walk. First, the guide showed us fire ants and explained that they always live in a certain kind of tree. He said their bite would hurt for a few minutes, but then act as a local anesthetic - and then he encouraged me to let myself be bitten to gain a firsthand experience. I did, and he was right: the first five minutes felt as if my hand was burning, but after that there was no more pain.
The next experience came when we saw a termite nest.
The guide explained that termites contain 40% more protein than meat, and then ate a few to demonstrate that he was serious. I tasted some, too; the taste is a little similar to wood, not bad at all.
The third new experience was cocoa. The cocoa production process is similar to coffee: seeds have to be extracted, dried, roasted and ground to make cocoa powder. What I didn't know was that part of the cocoa fruit is edible, too:
It doesn't taste like cocoa at all, of course, but rather like some kind of tropical fruit (which is exactly what it is, of course).
In the afternoon, another new experience: we went piranha fishing! This is the first fish I've ever caught:
All in all, however, I don't get what people like about fishing. It's a rather boring series of throwing out a line, waiting, pulling it in, and then either discovering that the fish is to small and throwing it back in, or that the fish stole your bait.
We also saw lots of animals, and traces of animals, during the day: hummingbirds, howler monkeys, cappuccino monkeys, squirrel monkeys, spider monkeys, dragonflies, and butterflies, as well as footprints of tapirs and ocelots. And, of course, tons of insects:
Another interesting thing was the
curare tree - apparently you have to cut the bark to retrieve the famous poison.
The next experience came when we saw a termite nest.
The guide explained that termites contain 40% more protein than meat, and then ate a few to demonstrate that he was serious. I tasted some, too; the taste is a little similar to wood, not bad at all.
The third new experience was cocoa. The cocoa production process is similar to coffee: seeds have to be extracted, dried, roasted and ground to make cocoa powder. What I didn't know was that part of the cocoa fruit is edible, too:
It doesn't taste like cocoa at all, of course, but rather like some kind of tropical fruit (which is exactly what it is, of course).
In the afternoon, another new experience: we went piranha fishing! This is the first fish I've ever caught:
All in all, however, I don't get what people like about fishing. It's a rather boring series of throwing out a line, waiting, pulling it in, and then either discovering that the fish is to small and throwing it back in, or that the fish stole your bait.
We also saw lots of animals, and traces of animals, during the day: hummingbirds, howler monkeys, cappuccino monkeys, squirrel monkeys, spider monkeys, dragonflies, and butterflies, as well as footprints of tapirs and ocelots. And, of course, tons of insects:
Another interesting thing was the
curare tree - apparently you have to cut the bark to retrieve the famous poison.
